CHERYL GAGE - The Games People Play
This artwork is presented as a visual pun, conceptually extending the domestic politics encoded in the marital state. It is made up of resin cubes that are etched with the chess moves from various chess masters’ winning games. Each cube loosely represents a chess piece in the game – the King, or Queen, Bishop, or Castle, depending on its positioning on the ‘checkerboard’. The 32 ‘chess pieces’ are characterized by different perfume bottles that are embedded in the resin. Scent is an effective factor in the attractive, or repellent responses engendered in human behavior. The artwork is part of a series of images that have been exhibited as a commentary on the wedding ceremony. The artist has explored the theme of the wedding as a rite of passage, a context for the transformation and empowerment of self.
